Penn Points Online

It’s the Sixers Leading the Division, yah dig?

By David Mohimani –

After the longest lockout in a decade nobody knew what to expect from this NBA season. Something nobody expected was the Philadelphia Seventy Sixers leading the Atlantic Division.

“I was not really expecting this but it’s pretty cool to see our local team finally do well again.” said senior Ian Toomey.

Under second-year head coach Doug Collins the Sixers are boasting an impressive 12-5 record. The Sixers have one of the most balanced scoring attacks in the league – they have seven players averaging double figures lead by their sixth man Lou Williams who is averaging a team high 15.4 points per game(ppg).

The Sixers well-rounded offense has them ranked third in the league with 99.9ppg.

Philly has also been stifling on the defensive end allowing only 88.8ppg which puts them second in the league. Their defense is lead by one of the most stingy and versatile defenders in the NBA, Andre Igoudala who is averaging two steals per game.

200px-Andre_Iguodala — Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

“I’m very excited,” said life-long Sixer fan and Penn Manor senior basketball player Landon Alecxih ” I want to get back to 2000,” referencing the Sixers magical run to the NBA finals.

That year they were led by league MVP Allen Iverson when the Sixers saw their championship dreams extinguished by the Lakers, the second of three straight titles for Los Angeles.

Since then, the Sixers have only advanced past the first round of the playoffs one time. They no longer have a star player like Iverson and have had a plethora of coaches over the last decade.

After all the turmoil and inconsistency they have had at the coaching position it seems they have finally found a good fit with coach Collins.

“Collins man, its coaching. Cheeks( former coach) was garbage same with O’brien(former coach). Finally we got a coach and now we are winning,”said Alecxih.

Collins is clearly the early front runner for coach of the year.

The Sixers may be benefiting from a sub par schedule so far. The only quality team they have beaten is the Atlanta Hawks who are inconsistent at best.They will really be tested with their upcoming schedule, a seven-game stretch beginning Monday where they will face the Magic, Bulls,Heat, Hawks, Lakers, Spurs, and the Clippers.

Philly sports fans are said to be some the most critical in all of sports, in fact some of their fans are not satisfied with their hot start.

“They could be playing a lot better,”said senior Tyler Smith. “They have so much potential and they finally are deciding to use some of it.”

Smith raises a valid point, the Sixers have a talented young nucleus lead by Ohio State standout, Evan Turner, who had a solid rookie season but did not meet the expectations of the second overall pick in the 2010 draft.

Other young players like Spencer Hawes, and Jodie Meeks have stepped up this year, while veteran players like Williams and Igoudala provide experience and leadership.

Penn State Remembers Positive Side of Paterno

By Cody Straub and Joey Jackson –

On Sunday the Penn State community, the college football nation, and the world lost not only a great football coach, but a great educator and man. 85-year old Joseph Vincent Paterno died at Mount Nittany Medical Center Sunday morning after his two month battle with lung cancer.

“He was an outstanding American who was respected not only on the field of play but in life generally — and he was, without a doubt, a true icon in the world of sports,” said former President George H.W. Bush regarding Joe Paterno.

“He was more than just a coach, a man, or a human being, he was everything to Penn State,” said Penn Manor senior Vicky Nase.

Penn State has planned memorial services for all this week to honor “JoePa” beginning Tuesday January 24 with a 10 hour viewing at the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center on the Penn State Campus, and another shorter viewing on Wednesday at the same location. Both will be open to the public. A funeral service for close friends and family will be held Wednesday afternoon, and to wrap up the week a public memorial service will be held on Thursday at the Bryce Jordan Center. All of the public services are bound to be packed as many people want to pay their respects, and thank him one last time for all that he did for the University of Penn State. On Sunday night a student candle light vigil was held outside the iconic Old Main at Penn State to mourn the loss of Paterno.

During his almost 62-year tenure at Penn State, Paterno became the winningest coach in college football history with 409 wins, but he is arguably most known for the impact he has had in the community, donating countless dollars to the university, including raising over $13 million for an expansion to the Penn State library which was later named the “Paterno Library.”

But what puts Paterno above all of the rest, is the academic and moral standard he held his students to. The “Grand Experiment” was Paterno’s attempt at fusing the academic and athletic lives of his players. In result of this, Penn State has graduated over three quarters of its football players, well above the national average of about 67%.

Written by the statue of Joe Paterno, outside Penn State’s Beaver Stadium, is a quote from Paterno himself, “They ask me what I’d like written about me when I’m gone. I hope they write I made Penn State a better place, not just that I was a good football coach.”

Paterno had been on the coaching staff at Penn State since 1950, but his record setting tenure was abruptly ended by the university on November 9, 2011 in lieu of a sex scandal involving Paterno’s former Defensive Coordinator, Jerry Sandusky.

Sandusky is currently facing 52 child abuse charges, including involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. Many of the victims of this abuse came from Sandusky’s own Second Mile charity program. The program, founded by Sandusky in 1977, is a charity that benefits under privileged kids and their parents.

Paterno, who’s contract with Penn State was ending after this past season, had already announced his retirement following the season, however, the board of trustees at Penn State decided prompt action was necessary and announced the immediate termination of Paterno’s coaching job.

JoePa — Paterno is carried off the field after his 400th career victory. Photo courtesy nydailynews.com

With Paterno’s health already in question before these string of events, his condition making a turn for the worst wasn’t much of a surprise for many.

“I knew that as soon as Joe was done with Penn State that he’d die,” senior Alex Cummins said. “He just didn’t have the will to live without football.”

Unfortunately, Paterno will forever be linked to the Sandusky sex scandal.

“Everyone will remember him as a great coach, but Sandusky has definitely tarnished his legacy,” Cummins commented in remembrance of Paterno.

espnjoepa — Students remember Joe Paterno at his statue outside Beaver Stadium. Photo courtesy espn.com

ESPN college football analyst Joe Schad disagrees, “That is just one chapter in a very long book of Joe Paterno, and people would say the rest is good.” That has become very clear since his death with the out- pour of positive statements released by those in the college football community.

“He will go down as the greatest football coach in the history of the game,” said new Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer when interviewed by ESPN.

“There are no words to express my respect for him as a man and as a coach,” said new Penn State head coach Bill O ‘Brien.

“Joe Paterno gave his life to college football. He gave his life to the players and college football,” said Nick Saban head coach at the University of Alabama.

The Paterno family statement said it best, ” “His loss leaves a void in our lives that will never be filled.”

Simon Zimmerman and David Mohimani contributed to this story.

A Day in The Life of Tim Rhinier

By Corey Fry –

“Just like a normal kid.”

That’s the phrase Tim Rhinier repeatedly stressed during the day spent with him. Rhinier a student at Penn Manor High School has cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheel chair.

Cerebral palsy is a developmental disorder in the brain, specifically around the cerebrum. It can restrict muscle and bone growth to varying degrees of impairment.

Its important to realize that each case of cerebral palsy is unique to the individual; in Rhinier’s case, he’s been permanently confined to a wheelchair. Despite this, Rhinier maintains a positive attitude and tries not to let his impairment stop him him from living a normal life.

“I can get around really well now, it used to be a lot harder,” Rhinier said.

He credits much of his mobility to his new electric chair that can automatically get him up inclines.

Rhinier is able to do most things by himself, but some limits inevitably arise from having cerebral palsy.

“I get on the bus around 6:30 and go to school, just like any normal kid,” Rhinier said. “The only difference is that I have to get loaded onto the ramp to get on.”

When he arrives at school, Tim stops at his locker before heading to his “Life Skills” class for first block. Here he develops skills that help him overcome the physical limitations he faces through life in a wheelchair. Every Wednesday, the class goes to the east gym for adjusted phys ed.

His one-on-one aide, Mrs. Saxton, had this to say, “Normally Tim isn’t too loud, but in this class he’s always yelling and hollering and having lots of fun, I’m pretty sure it’s his favorite class.”

As the class played a match of volleyball, it was noticeable that Rhinier had established several strong friendships with his classmates and was able to fit in with his peers well.

As part of his individual program, Rhinier leaves for his next class nine minutes before the bell rings to avoid the masses of students who would soon be pouring through the halls.

Tim wheeling himself down the hall before fourth block ends.

“The halls can get pretty crazy,” he commented.

“Kids can be really reckless in the hallways, we don’t want them to get run over or for Tim to get trampled,” added Saxton.

The cramped hallways aren’t the only thing making Rhinier’s life more difficult, there’s also the limited number of elevators (four across the entire school), which Saxton pointed out, aren’t always working.

“If one of the elevators isn’t working, we have to go the whole way to the other side of the school to get downstairs,” she said.

Rhinier was the first one to his video production class in the library. As we waited for the class to arrive, he showed the projects he was working on; a music video made using the sounds of his chair, and an informative video about the upcoming school blood drive.

Surprisingly, Rhinier could use the software better most other kids in the school. His videos were creative, well thought out, and neatly made.

As students began filing in, a few said ‘hi’, but they mostly kept to themselves. Some of them didn’t acknowledge us at all. It was possible his physical condition was intimidating to some students although he interacted naturally with many teens as the day went on.

He discussed news, media, sports, just some basic teenage things. Rhinier shares many of the same hobbies and interests as any other teenager.

“Do I play video games? Um, yeah I have an Xbox,”said Rhinier. “I got Live for Christmas so I’ve been doing that a lot.”

Not only does he play the video games, he’s also an avid football fan; and like many other male students in the school right now, he’s been caught up in the “Tebow” fad. He even did the Tebow stance.

It may be shocking to some to know how a student who seemed so different on the outside could be so normal when you took the chance to get to know him. Tim’s got all the aspects of a normal teenager in spite of his condition. He is nearly always be in a good mood, has a positive outlook on life, and is just a generally nice person to be around.

Tim Rhinier may not be able to experience all the aspects of being a teenager that other kids do, but he’s certainly never going to let it bring him down.

It’s Not How Often You Get Knocked Down, It’s How You Get Back Up

By Alicia Ygarza –

Injuries suck.

One of our most important games of the year, and this has to happen. My question is, why did it have to happen to me?

I’m not going to lie, when you first get hurt you kind of enjoy it because you’re babied by your parents. But when you’re sitting on the bench, that feeling of anger out weighs that great feeling of being babied.

I did our trainer’s preseason workouts to a T, and those workouts were killer. But not even those infamous Jon Zajac workouts were a match for my ankle.

I’m not very prone to injuries, in fact, no one in my family is, but my ankles seem to let me down the most. My ankles even let me down more than my knees, knees that can crack more than my neck.

DSCN4203 — A photo of my ankle a week after the injury

Two years ago, it was my right ankle that gave up and had me cozy on the bench for six games. This year it’s my left ankle, and I have to say, I’m happy it wasn’t my right. At least the last time it happened, I didn’t have my license yet. Could you imagine me driving home after my game with a huge ice pack on my ankle weighing the peddle down?

On top of that I was crying since it was a really important game. Add the two factors together, unstable emotions + terrible aching foot= scary car ride. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but thanks left ankle for taking the initiative over the right.

Let me recall my infamous ankle injury of 2009-2010, I was jumping up for a rebound and when I landed my ankle turned toward the outside, chipping a piece of my bone off. Man did that hurt, and it was actually considered a fracture by the doctors. This year, I was jumping up for a rebound and when I landed my ankle turned toward the outside. WOW, what a coincidence.

At that moment I felt every ligament in my ankle stretch like a five foot long piece of gum.

“Oh not again,” I thought to myself as I laid on the ground signaling for a timeout.

One thing you should know about me is I’m not a crybaby. I never cry during basketball except when I get hurt, and this was a moment when I shed a tear. However, being a team captain and having a team with predominately juniors and sophomores, I wanted to teach my team to be tough players. So as soon as my eyes got watery and that one tear fell, I sucked up every ounce of pain and calmly explained to trainer Steve what happened.

“Will I be able to play again? How will my team do without me? Oh I hope it’s not broken!”

These thoughts circled my mind as I sat on the benching taking note of the crowd of people staring at me.

“Man I can’t let my team down,” I thought over and over again.

A photo of me shooting in the Warwick game before I got hurt

After my ankle was re-taped, I was told by Steve to perform a few ankle exercises, which I passed. Then I was told to try jogging back and forth to see how powerful the pain was.

The pain wasn’t bad at all and I felt great…at least that’s what I told Steven.

“Yeah it feels okay, it’s just a little sore that’s all,” I said to Steve, trying to make him believe I was feeling better.

“Okay you look like you can move well and if it’s not hurting you, you can play the second half,” he said.

A few shuffles and jump-ups later, the second half ticked around.

The game was intense, and I knew right from the start I wasn’t going to be able to play 100 percent.

My ankle was throbbing, like a brain that had taken in too much information, like the pounding in your head you get when you have a concussion, like the way your head feels after your parents have nagged you about something a thousand times.

Get it, it hurt bad.

One rebound was taken from me, which is very uncommon, and a pass was thrown to me but I couldn’t run to catch it in time.

“Come on Alicia, pick it up,” I said to myself.

Don’t you hate those moments when you do something bad, and when every possession is crucial? At that point I knew I needed to step my game up..I just hoped I could.

There were about three minutes left and we were down by five points, that’s when I decided I was going to forget about my pain and give those three minutes every ounce of my determination to win.

One steal and then an assist to my teammate to cut the lead by three.

A second steal and then a drive to the basket to cut the lead to one after two made free throws. I was feeling like my old self again.

Yes, I could do it.

But sadly we were forced to foul them and they drilled each foul shot. Yet it gives me hope, I know that if I could create two great defensive plays like that at the end of the game, imagine what damaged I could of caused the entire game.

I know next time Warwick will be in for an eye-opening game, then we’ll no longer be tied for second place with them.

DSCN4204 — A comparison of my left ankle to my right ankle

It’s been a week and three days now, and I’m almost fully recovered. Although there is still some pain in my ankle, I’ll be playing tonight and helping my great team (who won two games without me) get a victory.

It’s great what a ton of ice and “stim” can do. All I know is that in two years when I’m playing for Eastern Mennonite University, I can expect another sprain.

But next time, I’ll be ready for it.

For more of my musings, view my blog: http://aliciaygarza.wordpress.com/

Just Call Me “Little T-Muss”

By Kyle Musser –

The name is Kyle Musser, but I’m known as “little T-Muss” by all of my brother’s friends. For a long time that was a bad thing.

T-Muss was the nickname that Tyler was called ever since elementary school.

To all the older kids I lived in the shadow of my brother Tyler and it used to make me very mad.

kyle musser — Kyle Musser - "little T-Muss"

All I wanted was a name. I just wanted to be considered cool by his older friends.

We would play sports in the backyard and as the tag-a-long brother, I was always the last pick and of course, like always, they didn’t use my real name.

Instead, they called me, “little T-Muss.”

It’s not that I was bad at the sports we played such as football, basketball and baseball. I felt I must have been just too uncool to the older kids.

As the little brother, I was sometimes picked on and I sometimes got discouraged – to the point where I would run home with grass stained pants and tears streaming down my face.

The infamous line I used to hear was, “If you can’t run with the big dogs then stay on the porch.”

I loved sports though so I continued to play with the big dogs whenever I could.

But no matter how well I did and no matter how hard I tried, I was always called “little T-Muss.”

I never despised my brother for it, although it still really upset me that they just wouldn’t call me by my real name.

Then in 2009 my perspective on people calling me “little T-Muss” changed for the rest of my life.

Tyler was a standout senior football player at Penn Manor that year. He played linebacker and wide receiver.

It was a chilly night, with the bright lights shining and the smell of the turf rising into the air. The Comets were the away team at Exeter High School.

My brother used to be the class clown and was always pulling pranks and joking around with the team. So when he didn’t get up after one of the plays, I thought he could be playing a practical joke.

He stayed face down on the field.

Something just didn’t feel right. This wasn’t one of his stupid little pranks that he had been pulling all his life, this was serious.

After the training staff brought him off the field they started checking him for a concussion.

All the time Tyler was begging to go back in the game because he had such love and passion for the game.

He wasn’t allowed to go back in the game and had to go to the doctor’s office the next week.

They found out he didn’t have a concussion.

The cause of him collapsing on the field was because he had a problem with his heart called Wolff Parkinson White Syndrome (WPW).

This occurs when you have extra electrical pathways in your heart.

The doctor who checked out his heart said that this was one of the worst cases he had ever seen and that Tyler should have never walked off the field that chilly Friday night.

I couldn’t have imagined losing my brother. He was the one person I could always rely on no matter what. No matter if we were fighting or if we were completely fine, I knew I always had him.

He had to get a surgery to eliminate the extra pathways.

While he was in the hospital, Penn Manor had another game. It was killing Tyler not to be out there.

This game had a different feel to it because I knew I wouldn’t be seeing my brother playing out there.

Instead everyone on the sidelines decided to wear the number 21 written on their taped up wrists, cleats, and even on one player’s cast.

I was asked to lead the team on the field while wearing his jersey, number 21.

I finally felt cool and accepted by his friends because it was their idea to let me do it.

In the locker room before we took the field his friend, Sean Noll, called back to me, “Hey little T-Muss get up here.”

I ran right up to the front with chills, sweaty hands and the image of my brother lying in the hospital bed running through my mind.

As I was standing there I realized that when he called me the nick name I wasn’t upset that he didn’t use my real name.

I finally realized that I was respected and that I was the brother of a very respected kid in the Penn Manor community. I realized no matter what name I was called as a kid I was just happy to be able to see my brother everyday. It didn’t matter that his friends didn’t respect me then and it didn’t matter that they didn’t call me my real name. It just mattered that I had Tyler.

The name is Kyle Musser, but if you call me “little T-Muss,” don’t worry, I won’t get mad.

R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Owed to Girls’ Basketball Team

By Iris Santana –

Make a statement about girls’ basketball around a group of guys, and it will be followed by a series of snickers and smart remarks.

Senior Eddie Bley’s remark was typical.

“Girls varsity basketball is the equivalent of the guys middle school basketball,”he said.

But the girls’ basketball team of Penn Manor High School is challenging those stereotypes by all that they’ve accomplished this season.

The Penn Manor girls’ basketball team is currently ranked number two in the section. The girl Comets were led by their starting shooting guard, Alicia Ygarza, who is also their leading scorer and rebounder.

Ygarza, who has a sprained ankle, is looking to get back into action soon.

Elizabeth Kelly, the girls’ basketball assistant coach spoke highly of Ygarza saying, “Hopefully Alicia is back early this week, she brings great things to the floor.”

She also said Ygarza is a great scorer and has perfected her craft in rebounding.

With her sitting on the bench, the team showed in their last face-off against Cedar Crest that they were capable of getting the win without her, but just barely.. Led by their senior forwards Alexandra Evans and Megan Schlegelmilch, they pulled out a close victory, 50-51.

Head Coach, Scott Long motivates the Comet girls.

“We still happen to pull through even when she’s not in the game” Evans said about Ygarza’s injury.

Manheim Township is currently the number one team in the LL-League Section One bracket.

The girls’ last encounter with Manheim Township was a tough battle and the Comets fell short of a victory.

“I know we can beat them,” Evans said about their upcoming game against Manheim Township.

The PM girls’ face off with Manhiem Township January 30, at Township.

The girls plan to emerge victorious against Township in hopes of becoming the number one seed in the section.

To read a story Ygarza wrote about her ankle injury, follow this link. https://www.pennpoints.net/?p=44301

“Rat”ifying My Fear of Rodents

By David Mohimani –

When AP psych teacher Maria Vita told us about the rat project, everybody was excited. That is, everybody but me.

Although I have never seen the Michael Jackson movie “Ben” or any other rat drama, it seemed that handling rats could soon become my worst fear.

And then they arrived as promised. Scores of rats with their ratty smell as they went lurking around and over each other in a vast lump of ratdom. They were separated into individual cages waiting for their new owners.

I peered through the wire cage at one of them and I must say that I was less than thrilled. Staring back through the cage were two beady little black eyes of a rat.

The idea of playing with a filthy little rat is not enticing. I mean who wants to spend an entire class period trying to train an animal whose brain is the size of pea? I looked around at my classmates who were excitedly bonding with their rats. So apparently everybody wants to train a rat but me.

Miss Vita did not help soothe my anxiety by letting us know there is a chance that the rats may nibble on a little more than cheerios.

Our group was one of the first to select a rat, we got a baby boy named Dexter. I had to admit he was kinda cute except for the fact that its testicles were about half the size of his body.

Apparently they have large testicles due to some sort of sexual competition between males, to see who can produce the most sperm so they have a higher chance of impregnating a female rat.

How was I ever supposed to train a rat for a psychology experiment when the rat was busy training for the sperm Olympics.

At first I was hesitant to even touch the rat, let alone hold him. My partner on the other hand took a shine to Dexter immediately which was fine by me. He could train the rat. I would watch – from a distance.

Then Miss Vita dropped the bomb on me. Both partners would have to get the rat to complete the trick to get credit.

Great. Just Great.

There was no avoiding it now, I was going to have to interact with this rat.

I scooped the little critter off the desk, he kicked and clawed trying to get me to relinquish my grip, I didn’t budge. I would show this rat right away who was boss. As I placed him on my arm, I began to feel his small claws scale across my skin. In a jolt he scurried up my arm and I held my breath with nervous anxiety. Dexter perched himself on my shoulder turning his tail toward me. I could not see him in my peripheral, in fact all I could see were two giant floating orbs. I swallowed hard.

Dexter then worked his way back down to his to my coat pocket and burrowed himself inside it.

I expected him to dart out of my pocket, but to my utter surprise he was calm.

He poked his little head out as if he was inviting me to pet him so I obliged.

Those same beady black eyes that had pierced my iris less than an hour before were now looking back at me, no longer did they appear menacing, but now they looked reassuring and kind.

I smiled and though to myself maybe this won’t be so bad after all. Olympics here we come.

Weekend Snow will Come and Go

By Connor Hughes and Jake Shiner –

Don’t blink, or you might miss this weekend’s snowfall.

Lancaster County will be seeing its first serious snow of the season Friday night. According to Millersville University weather expert Eric Horst, the snowfall will start around midnight, and continue through Saturday morning until it tapers off around noon.

Temperatures will be below freezing and ice is expected to form on roads across the county.

“This is the first system that we’ve had of significance since late October, which was a freak event. We’re going to get a few inches, but not a big storm. Total accumulation will depend on when it makes the change over from snow to a wintry mix, but accumulation may be as much as 4 inches,” said Horst.

The storm should excite some Penn Manor students, senior John Brimhalm is anxious to play with his family in the snow.

“I hope we get snow, that way I can throw snowball at my brother. And I like to go out sledding, that’s some pretty fun stuff,” said Brimhalm.

Snow may be a good thing to many, but some Penn Manor students aren’t happy about the fact that the storm falls over the weekend.

“I have stuff to do this weekend, no way it’s snowing,” said freshman Reese Gill.

Other students are upset about the snow effecting their travel.

“I’m going to be mad, I only own shorts and I have to unicycle to work in the snow,” said senior Zach Kauffman.

The storm will be quick, according to Horst, the snow should be completely melted by Monday when the temperature should hit mid 40s.

Becca Hess contributed to this article.

Should Couples Really Share Everything?

By Blake Wales and Brandon Bowers –

Is it just about trust or is it to embarrass the person after they break up? Either way, more and more couples are giving away private information to each other. However, for some it’s beginning to come back and bite them.

As the years have progressed, couples have been giving each other things to remind them of their boyfriend or girlfriend like, hoodies, t-shirts, and other items. Nowadays, because of technology being so popular, couples are sharing passwords to their Facebook profiles, emails, and even phones to view texts.

Reagan Forrey, a senior at Penn Manor, believes that these things are not just limited to couples.

“I had to give my password to Dezire Nightlife because I’m a promoter and they send me dance party information to give out,” Forrey said.

But it can become a big problem if a boyfriend or girlfriend has the password to their spouses Facebook account. They may post crude things for everyone to see, humiliate the person, and make fun of them if the relationship doesn’t work out.

Mel Rupp — Rupp gave her password to gain trust. Photo by Blake Wales

“I gave my password to someone so he could trust me,” said Penn Manor Junior Melanie Rupp.

It doesn’t always end so well, of course. Changing a password is simple, but sometimes the damage is done before the password can be changed. And the sharing of online lives can be the reason a relationship falters.

“My boyfriend cheated on me so I changed mine back,” Bonnie Prebola Penn Manor junior said.

The stories of fallout include a boyfriend or girlfriend who is spurned then tries to humiliate their ex by e-mails, text, and Facebook posts, using their password.

A Penn Manor junior’s ex went on his Facebook and posted things about him after they broke up.

“I didn’t give my password to her, she somehow hacked my Facebook account and posted a bunch of mean stuff about me,” said junior Eric Garner. “She called me names and said I was the worst boyfriend ever,” recalled Garner.

Couples who think it is okay to share everything, even a password, is at risk of getting hurt after the relationship is over.

If you’re in a relationship, think of the consequences before you give your password to your spouse, before it’s too late.

Online Privacy Comes to a Head

By Gabie Bauman, Joey Jackson and Patrick Simpson –

Piracy isn’t committed on the high seas anymore, but on the Web.

The Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA as it is known online, is an anti-piracy bill that proposes a law that would enable an owner of a certain piece of intellectual property to issue a court order to the domain host, warning that a certain website, if determined by the owner to be primarily made for copyright infringement, can and will be shut down. The court order can also block the site from search engines and advertising services.

The bill also makes it a crime to stream copyrighted material, with

tumblr — Late in 2011 microblogging giant Tumblr blacked out all text and images on their microblogs.

a penalty of up to five years imprisonment for ten infractions within ten months.

The fact that the potential take-down of websites could happen without due process has made many users very nervous. The wording of the bill is vague, leaving the question of what exactly makes a website copyright infringing open for interpretation.

Some of Penn Manor’s community could weigh in on the subject of the proposed bill, “I think it was originally created for music and film, but it’s now more of a blanket law that covers more than they understand,” said Diane Bounds.

googlebalckout — Users attempting to view Google's homepage on January 18 would be met by a black bar.

According to Penn Manor’s Technology Director Charlie Reisinger, this bill would harm the basic structure of the Internet, “SOPA and PIPA threaten creativity and expression on the Internet by granting corporations the ability to enforce widespread censorship via DNS blacklisting. Frivolous tampering with DNS betrays the Internet’s fundamental open technical architecture. Further, SOPA/PIPA legislation may significantly undermine next generation DNSSEC (Secure DNS) protocols. DNSSEC is a re-write of the DNS system and aims to harden the global Internet against fraud and attack. In essence, SOPA would force operators to redirect web requests away from legitimate site addresses, which in turn betrays the goals of enhanced DNS security.”

This bill has generated a firestorm of criticism from many of the giants of the Internet, for instance, Wikipedia.

Wikipedia chose January 18 to file its protest. Users wishing to know the capital of Colombia that day would be redirected to this message: “Imagine a World Without Free Knowledge” Wikipedia is protesting both the PROTECT-IP act and the SOPA bill, blacking out it’s entire website, only allowing the articles directly related to the contested bills to be viewed. As they always do, however, users of the information giant had already found the workarounds to the redirection and have circulated them online for those who really, really needed to use Wikipedia.

And they aren’t the only ones. Technology news site Wired.com also blacked out its headlines and images, though the black out wasn’t complete as when the user’s cursor hovers over the headline or image the blackout disappears. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, the web browser Firefox, and WordPress all have ongoing petitions and blacked out headings. The webcomic series xkcd, The Oatmeal, and Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal also had blacked out their comics for January 18.

: The response to Tumblr’s online petition was overwhelming.

Microblogging platform Tumblr blocked out it’s entire site in late November 2011. According to Tumblr, the petition garnered 87,834 phone calls to local representatives, the longest being 31 minutes long.

Google, instead of commemorating the birth of a famous author or artist, had chosen to make their image on January 18 to be simply a black bar. If the user should click on the black bar on the homepage, it links to a blog post asking users to sign their online petition against SOPA and its partner bill, the Protect-IP Act.

Not everyone was impressed by the Internet protests, however. “Some technology business interests are resorting to stunts that punish their users or turn them into their corporate pawns, rather than coming to the table to find solutions to a problem that all now seem to agree is very real and damaging,” said Senator Chris Dodd, the chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America in an article by the BBC.

Dodd is a good example of the parties in support of the bill: the MPAA, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and major pharmaceutical companies are all major proponents of SOPA. The intention of the bill is not some apocalyptic doom for the Internet, but to protect intellectual property and keep theft away.

What supporters of this bill fail to realize, however, is if the bill passes, the wrong people will be affected. The law would shut down pirates domain names, but not their IP address, so it would be as easy as setting up a new domain to continue stealing data. It is relatively easy for a website to set up mirror sites — or identical copies of the original site. During the height of the Wikileaks controversy, the leak site had almost 1300 mirror sites.

Congress held hearings on November 16 and December 15, 2011, but much has changed since then. On January 18 alone at least four senators in support of PIPA withdrew their support for the bill, releasing assorted statements agreeing that a bill carrying as much power as SOPA/PIPA does, needs to be revised.

wikipedia-blackout-message-640x353 — Users attempting to log on Wikipedia to deface the article on Ernest Hemingway would be unpleasantly surprised.

Senator Matt Kirk said, “Freedom of speech is an inalienable right granted to each and every American, and the Internet has become the primary tool with which we utilize this right. The Internet empowers Americans to learn, create, innovate, and express their views. While we should protect American intellectual property, consumer safety and human rights, we should do so in a manner that specifically targets criminal activity. This extreme measure stifles First Amendment rights and Internet innovation. I stand with those who stand for freedom and oppose PROTECT IP, S.968, in its current form.”

Since Congress’s latest talks, there has even been new suggestions on how to limit piracy. The OPEN act, drafted by Senator Ron Wyden, would instead take an alternative approach that is exactly as its name suggests, leaving the internet open to the public. Although it is far from perfect, it seems the OPEN act is much more plausible than it’s overly extreme counter-parts. In fact, the PROTECT-IP act is actually a rewrite of a bill sent to Congress earlier in the year, COICA or the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act .

The discussion on the Stop Online Piracy Act is set to resume February 2012. The PROTECT- IP Act will be voted on January 24, 2012.

With such a controversial bill, it’s hard to guess what may exactly come out of it, but whatever decision they make, let’s hope that it’s the one the people of the Internet want.